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President okays wheat support
price mechanism
ISLAMABAD - President General Pervez Musharraf Monday allowed
to continue support price mechanism for wheat during the
current fiscal year as International Financial Institutions (IFIs)
including the IMF and Asian Development Bank have hinted at
relaxing conditionalities for improving performance of agri
sector.
"President General Pervez Musharraf has directed the Ministry
of Food, Agriculture and Livestock(MINFAL) to ensure export
quality wheat and in this connection testing laboratories will
be upgraded before the harvesting season," an official of
MINFAL told The Nation soon after attending a crucial meeting
here on Monday.
The meeting, chaired by President Musharraf, took certain
decisions related to agriculture sector. The meeting was
attended by Federal Agriculture Minister Khair Mohammad Junejo,
Advisor to Chief Executive on Agriculture Shafi Niaz and other
senior officials of MINFAL.
President General Pervez Musharraf decided to stick to the
support price mechanism for wheat crop in the current fiscal
year. "We have taken this decision to protect the interests of
the farming community at all costs," he added. He maintained
the government would continue to intervene in the market for
providing fair prices to the wheat growers.
"The MINFAL high-ups presented their view points for boosting
agri exports during the current fiscal year, and important
decisions were taken to stabilize this neglected sector," the
official maintained.
President General Pervez Musharraf took a serious notice of
complaints about bad quality of agri products meant for
exports. It has been decided to upgrade the testing
laboratories and Rs one million will be consumed in this
connection. "The government has also decided to set up a
"silo" (storage) at Port Qasim within six month for providing
storage facility to give boost to wheat exports," the official
said.
The President also issued instructions for accelerating the
process for exporting wheat to Iraq and maintenance of its
quality at all costs. It was also decided during the meeting
to form a special committee to monitor the wheat stock
situation in the country and suggest measures to achieve the
export target.
The government has fixed Rs 300 per 40 kg as support price
against Rs 240 for previous year. The government had exported
0.7 million ton wheat last year and 2,30,000 ton had been
exported to Afghanistan and Iraq.
When Federal Agriculture Minister Khair Mohammad Junejo was
contacted for comments, he said the government wanted to
protect the interests of farmers and Monday's decision would
contribute to giving a boost to wheat export in the current
fiscal year.
He said that the government was taking measures to ensure
better quality for exportable wheat and testing laboratories
would help it achieve the desired goals. "We want to build
infrastructure for achieving maximum quantity of wheat for
export in near future," he added.
He said: "There is no need for high money to establish
infrastructure for ensuring optimum exports of wheat. We are
taking steps in this regard and desired improvement will bring
better results".
He said that the government was moving forward to involving
private sector in agri business specially in wheat but "we
cannot ignore interests of farmers as well".
He said the government wanted to adopt export-oriented
policies in the current financial year and measures would be
taken to achieve the desired set goals.
November 2, 2001
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